School employee dresses up as fake gunman to teach students lesson

An employee of a school in North Carolina dressed up as a fake gunman and stormed into classrooms. Wearing a ski mask and flailing a toy pistol, the unnamed man put on a Hollywoodesque show meant to teach students a lesson. Some laughed, others cried. Many parents were irate.

A lesson? Yes, the administration at Eastern Wayne Middle School specifically described the incident as an “enrichment lesson” in a letter sent to parents after the incident. The sixth grade was learning how to exhibit good citizenship and be observant of their surroundings, and the act was meant to make them think about how they’d respond if their school came under attack by an intruder with murderous intent.

When the unnamed masked man walked into classrooms, he pointed his fake firearm directly at students. Some students recognized the man behind the mask and laughed, but others didn’t get the “joke” and became hysterical.

With the list of school shootings growing (Columbine, Virginia Tech, Chardon, Ohio, Sandy Hook), schools across the country are holding drills to prepare for a mock attack by a gunman. Drills have occurred everywhere from suburban Chicago and New York City to rural Oregon and Indiana. In some cases schools are simply practicing a lockdown situation but in others they’re sending fake gunman into classrooms and even using fake blood.

In many situations, students are notified before the drill, but in some cases school administrators opt to surprise teachers and students because they think the training is more effective. In these situations, parents often complain.

Last year, an El Paso, Tex., school set up a shocking surprise lockdown simulation that enraged parents like Stephanie Belcher, whose son sent her a panicked text message.

“He said, ‘I’m not kidding. There’s gunshots and people screaming and we were locked in a storage closet,’ ” Belcher told KFOX-TV. “These kids thought that their classmates were being killed and that they could be next. There’s no excuse for that.”

But the district’s assistant superintendent defended the practice. “It’s an active shooter drill,” Pat O’Neill told KFOX. “We do this every now and then. If you warn too many people, then the simulation is not effective.”

The district spokesman for Wayne County admitted to local media that the gunman incident got out of hand. “In this particular case, the staff member took it a little too far,” Derksen told WRAL-TV. “I think this person just got a little too much into the part.” (You think so?)

Derksen said the gunman was supposed to visit six classrooms and grab something off a desk. Then the students would engage in a discussion with their teacher about the incident.

On Monday school officials sent home the letter below addressing the incident.

A North Carolina Middle School sent a letter to parents explaining why a fake gunman visited their kids’ classroom. (WRLA-TV)

Parents reactions were mixed. Some felt the school made a terrible mistake. “I said ‘Wow, think of how psychologically damaging that could have been for these students,’” parent Patricia Williams told WRAL-TV.

But Joe Collins, an uncle of a student at the school, felt that a realistic lesson has more impact.

“In my opinion, I think the realistic events – of course I have a military background – so the more realistic you can make it, the better it seems,” Collins told WRAL-TV.